BACK TO ALL RECIPES

Watermelon Ginger Beer

Tanalee Youngblood/Unsplash

BY Kayla Stewart

PUBLISHED August 15, 2022

One of the first recipes I tried when I purchased Nicole A. Taylor’s Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations, was the watermelon ginger beer. If you opt for the truly homemade version in Nicole’s book that includes making your own ginger starter as I did, you’re in for a 20-day-plus journey. Thankfully, Nicole makes it easy to make a phenomenally fresh watermelon ginger beer using store-bought ginger beer base. Make sure to get a red-flesh watermelon for the best version of the drink. – Kayla Stewart

 

The following may contain affiliate links for which we earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting us in this way!
Print

Watermelon Ginger Beer

Prevent your screen from going dark

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons fresh fennel fronds (optional)
  • Filtered water
  • 6 cups cubed watermelon
  • 2 cups ginger beer

Instructions

1. Divide the fennel fronds (if using) between two ice cube trays and freeze until solid, 4 to 8 hours.

2. Meanwhile, place the watermelon in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Scrape the sides of the blender or food processer using a rubber spatula and blend again.

3. Place a metal sieve over a large bowl and strain the pureed watermelon through the sieve (they should yield about 2 cups of juicw). Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve; it will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

4. To serve, fill four highball or rocks glasses with the fennel ice cubesAdd 1/2 cup of the watermelon juice to each glass and top off with the ginger beer.

— Recipe reprinted with permission from Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor

Log in, or become a member today.

Join in: enjoy 7 days free, plus 40% off your first year with access to 1,000+ highly vetted recipes from the How To Cook Everything series and beyond, essays from Mark, and original pieces from our contributors.

Join annually and save 40%
Log in to your account

GetBetterFasterHealthierSmarterTastier

in the Kitchen

Through our (more than a thousand, and growing) highly vetted recipes from the How to Cook Everything series, original food essays and reporting, thoughtful podcast conversations and introductions to new and responsible food products, we aim to showcase what’s possible, from farm to fork, and power a growing movement that encourages people to think about food not as a commodity, but as central to our health and happiness.

Start your free trial

We hope you join us on this journey. We’d love to have you as a part of the Bittman community. As a member, you'll have access to:

  • New recipes every week
  • 1000s of recipes from How to Cook Everything and beyond
  • First access to in-person events with Mark and Kate
  • Exclusive discounts from our favorite brands
  • Q&As with Mark and the team

 

Subscribe to our free newsletter

Join over 105,000 passionate individuals who receive our weekly emails. It’s 100% free and you can unsubscribe anytime. Plus, we’ll email you a sampling of what premium members receive on a weekly basis.